I was quite impressed at the intensity of the IC's...I was impressed with the light show. Most times it was just flashes, but the IC's did reveal some definition. It's now over. Lasted 25 minutes with good rainfall and good lighting. Now moving east.

Yes, LOTS of inner cloud lighting. It was turning me off and I almost gave up shooting. But I've been shooting lightning long enough to know that sometimes the best crawlers and bolts occur after the main core has passed by. It gave me about 4-5 half decent shots, out of 200+ standing there for over an hour Aaahh.. I can still remember the days of going through 3-4 rolls of film only to get them developed and have a single shot worth keeping. Digital cameras are a godsend to lightning photography

Forgot to Save radar scans from this day but many people followed this system waiting too see what will happen as it crossed the border. And of course as it does small popcorn storms explode everywhere ruining good chances for a significant storm to roll through with the ability to produce a tube with the exception to the Windsor area. Though in the end that thunderstorms northern side wound up hitting land with the more dangerous portion staying just over the water.

The big problem was how undefined things were and a lot of what was going around was high based.....
Around 7 though A small weak cell travel ESE through London with very definable features.
It managed to organize and rotate a bit as well......

It started as a rain core coming through going the same direction

As it left a weak looking shelf could be seen in the distance heading the same way and a rounded base with some rotation and interesting scud underneath beginning to form into a new base

As it passes overhead

this shot is darkened to help show the cool clouds that were going in all sorts of directions in this clear slot

As the cell left it looked like the base was getting a bit thicker looking and rotating more

You can see a clear slot cutting into the backside causing the spin and separating this portion from the shelf to its SW

These pics are through a window so there was a raindrop on the second shot I could not avoid and the second one's a bit darker than it should be but I'm too lazy to change it right now

Well, late recap, but I was in Corunna on the Michigan border of Lambton County. At one point, much of SE Michigan was under a tornado warning and a group of about 12 of us were watching the Detroit coverage. It was extremely hot and humid outside, but as the line of thunderstorms moved east of Flint, Michigan, a secondary line developed out ahead of it and the main line behind it essentially fizzled out before moving into St. Clair County MI and Lambton County ON. I heard a few decent thunders and there was light rain in Corunna.

The most interesting thing that happened though, was Emergency Management Ontario issued a very late and very false red alert for a tornado, later citing they thought "watch" meant "warning".

The Sarnia police chief interrupted all tv and radio broadcasting messages to get below ground, and they even sounded the tornado sirens all up the St. Clair River. The next day the police chief made a statement they were misinformed by EMO, and really... I hope someone got in serious trouble for making that huge of a mistake.

The funny thing is, they even issued the false red alert after the tornado warning for Essex County had ended. Seriously. Environment Canada should be heading these new warning alerts, not a secondary source like Emergency Management Ontario who obviously have no idea what they are doing.

Anyway, my camera was recording the storm when the tornado sirens were turned on in Corunna. I was actually going out back to get it after the storm when the sirens went off... you hear a gate slam at 10 seconds, that's me running in panic.

I remember that, when they mistaken the watch for a warning the closest storm was over the lake SE of Windsor .....

The problem here is people involved with the warning system that have little sense when it comes to the weather..... the fact that the person turning on the siren wasn't capable enough on their own to realize there was not even a threat of a sever storm at the time let alone a tornado warning.

I remember that, when they mistaken the watch for a warning the closest storm was over the lake SE of Windsor .....

The problem here is people involved with the warning system that have little sense when it comes to the weather..... the fact that the person turning on the siren wasn't capable enough on their own to realize there was not even a threat of a sever storm at the time let alone a tornado warning.

Yeah, I should have added the tornado warning was for Essex County and only Essex County, but EMO sent an emergency action message saying Essex, Kent, and Lambton counties were under tornado warnings, citing Environment Canada.

I don't blame the police department for turning the sirens on. They had no choice, obviously everyone was aware of the tornado watch and several tornado warnings in Michigan, and when they receive word from the government that a tornado warning is in effect for the area, they were just acting to save lives. They even sounded the sirens for almost ten minutes, when during any other emergency they have always gone off for just three minutes.

I blame Emergency Management Ontario. John Doe at the switchboard of the sirens probably isn't a storm watcher, or even knows where to look for storms. He just takes what info is given to him from the federal or provincial or county government and assumes it's correct because it's his job to.

At any rate, during the radio hour on the false warning the next day, everyone was saying it's good to have a 'dress rehearsal' and everyone needs to be aware it can happen someday.

Sarnia isn't just a city with tornado sirens, and sometimes false tornado warnings. The sirens are multi-purposed they are used for:
A- Chemical emergencies (Sarnia is chemical valley)
B- Severe weather

Anytime the sirens go off in Sarnia people take immediate action because there could be a life threatening poison gas cloud heading in their direction. In all honesty, I didn't even think it was a tornado at the time. I thought for sure a lightning bolt struck a refinery and a major fire or chemical leak was in progress. Hence why I just took off inside. The emergency alert system took a few minutes to come on the TV and radio, but the entire time I was just panicking that we'd have to evacuate. As soon as the tornado warning safety messages came over the airwaves, I thought "this makes no sense" and I checked Environment Canada's website.

__________________Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario
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